MANCHESTER United’s England fringe men are facing a scrap for World Cup glory this winter.

MANCHESTER United's England fringe men are facing a scrap for World Cup glory this winter.

The Reds' autumn slide and Liverpool's surge to the top of the Premiership has seen Anfield's World Cup hopefuls in Sven Goran Eriksson's squad vision for next summer gain the upper hand.

But the United players whose places are under threat are not giving up without a fight.

Missed out before

Andy Cole, Phil Neville and Nicky Butt all know only too well the heartache of missing out on a coveted World Cup place for England.

And once again it looks likely that it will be Cole, Butt, Phil Neville and now Wes Brown, whose nerve ends will be twanging up to D-day.

Meanwhile, down the East Lancs Road the likes of Danny Murphy and Jamie Carragher have been enhancing their chances of adding to the list of Liverpool players set to go.

Sven Goran Eriksson has picked nine England teams so far and Butt has started in three of them and appeared as a sub in another three.

He's now being challenged by Murphy in an international midfield area dominated by Beckham, Scholes and Gerrard. Frank Lampard of Chelsea, Bayern Munich's Owen Hargreaves, Nicky Barmby of Liverpool and Tottenham's Darren Anderton are also contesting for places.

Emerging competition

Phil Neville has been a fixture in Eriksson's squads since the Swede's first selection in the job, but he now faces competition from Carragher and Danny Mills for his squad place.

And Andy Cole will need to re-discover his top form if he is to force his way into the final 23.